


Take a Bite of My Heart

by Nomin_Ambassador



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Hybrids, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-07 17:59:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10366275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nomin_Ambassador/pseuds/Nomin_Ambassador
Summary: "Once a Casanova, always a Casanova. Right, Lee Jeno?"





	1. Of Chocolate Cakes and Pink Letters ♡

"I swear to god Nana, if Jeno, or worse - Mark, catches us sneaking into their locker room, just to leave that goddamn valentines chocolate of yours, I'mma hit you until the last feather from your tail falls off!" Donghyuck hisses at Jaemin as the latter dragged him to the Basketball team's locker room.

It was Valentine's day and Jaemin thought it would be a good idea to give his crush, the Basketball team's ace, Lee Jeno a home-made chocolate cake that he had spent the whole night labouring over.

Jaemin was never an excellent baker, but he put in his best effort to perfect the cake he made for Jeno. There was no way that he was  going to waste all the energy he put into it because Donghyuck was too scared of getting caught by his own crush, the Basketball team's captain (as well as Jeno's bestfriend), Mark Lee.

"They started practice about an hour ago Hyuck and they're not ending soon, trust me on this. Just shut up or I'll stuff your mouth with my beautiful feathers. " Jaemin joked - there was no way he would waste his precious feathers on Donghyuck.

Jaemin was the only half-peacock half-human enrolled at Hybrid Arts High school. Because of his unique breed, he was familiar with being bullied by his peers. Despite only having a peacock's tail with no other noticeable bird like features, he was picked on because of how feminine (or as other's put it: gay) his feathers looked. Jaemin didn't care though - he adored the various colors of his feathers and was proud of his animal origins.

The peacock hybrid was snapped from his thoughts when he received a rather harsh slap from his friend. "Man, you're so gross!" Donghyuck complained, "You probably didn't even bathe today and you're threatening to stuff your feathers in my mouth? Do you want to get stung?" Donghyuck was a bee hybrid - a loud one at that. With the only noticeable part of a bee in him being his stinger, which Jaemin thoroughly detested.

The duo arrived at the empty locker room - it's door left open.

"See? Those hot dumb-asses never lock the door anyways. Come on!" Jaemin said grinning as he pushed the door further open, his other hand wrapped around Donghyuck's bicep to make sure he didn't try to make a run for it.

The scent of masculinity hit the two like a wave as soon as they opened the door. The room smelt like sweat and bath soap with an undertone of axe deodorant, but it wasn't too stinky to make the pair turn back.

"Fuck's sake - I didn't spend a shit tonne on my limited edition honey and berry perfume just to smell like I've been sprayed with musky testosterone." Donghyuck whined, always having something to complain about.

The younger frowned at his bee friend. "Stop bitching. Mark hyung smells like this, are you saying you hate the way he smells?"

"Mark hyung smells like caramel though. " Donghyuck  retorted with a whisper which Jaemin barely caught, but caused a giggle to escape from the younger. They tacitly walked to the rows of lockers in search of Jeno's. Jaemin wasn't able to convince Donghyuck to give any chocolate to Mark. The older kept reasoning that Mark had a lot of fan girls that would give him chocolates anyway, and he'd be too afraid to find his in the trash.

"Oh look Jae, this is it. Locker number 12, Jeno Lee." The bee hybrid pointed at Jeno's locker that shone like gold to Jaemin's eyes. Jaemin's crushes locker was right before his eyes and he couldn't help but blush. He knew it was stupid, but Jeno's effect on him was also stupidly strong.

"Awe, look at you! Your tail spread without you even noticing because you saw Jeno's locker. Jaemin... you really are whipped. " Donghyuck's teasing made Jaemin furrow his eyebrows in confusion. Not believing his friend, Jaemin looked over his shoulder to find his tail spread wide open. Embarrassed, Jaemin immediately scurried to close it with a blush painting his cheeks.

Incidents like this usually occurred when Jaemin got flustered or nervous. It felt like blinking to him - although he could control his tail it would sometimes involuntarily open.

"Yah! Shut up and let's just hurry." Flustered, Jaemin reached out a hand for his cake. Donghyuck chuckled some more at his friend's misery before he finally decided that he had tortured Jaemin enough. Unzipping his backpack, Donghyuck handed him his oh-so-romantic chocolate cake. In response, Jaemin smiled at Hyuck like the older had given him his favorite vanilla ice cream.

Jaemin faced Jeno's locker, entering 0000 as the passcode (which he had paid Jisung $10 to get)  and grinned widely when the locker door snapped open (thankfully, otherwise he would've choked the little chick).

Jaemin carefully placed the cake in a vacant space next to Jeno's towel. It wasn't that hard to find a space in his locker since it was clean and order - just as Jaemin had expected from his crush.

He took out his hand-written letter from his pocket. It was neatly folded inside a pink envelope littered with heart stickers and placed it on top of the chocolate cake. Jaemin was judged for it - but he couldn't help loving the color pink. Content with his work, Jaemin turned to his best friend, who was staring at him blankly.

"Are you done?" he questioned, unimpressed by Jaemin's cringe-worthy pink letter.

Jaemin just rolled his eyes at the older and dragged him out of the locker room, but this time with happiness etched onto his pretty face.

~♥~

"So you're taking Sera out today? Wait, I thought your current girlfriend was Eunseo though?" Mark asked Jeno in confusion as they entered their locker room. Practice had ended early - Coach Jaehyun was probably planning on taking Professor Doyoung out for Valentines. This allowed Jeno and Mark's teammates to rush to their dates, having left practice at the same time as their coach.

Jeno chuckled at his friend and chugged the remaining water in his bottle before he sat on the locker bench.

"You're asking as if you don't know me that well Mark hyung. Ah I'm disappointed." The younger said dramatically, his hand held on his chest in mock offence while his cat tail swung as if teasing the captain.

Mark squinted his eyes at Jeno, "Are you telling me that you broke up with Eunseo right before valentine's day?" Mark asked, only receiving a nod from the younger as if it was the most logical thing to have done.

"Wow dude, you're harsh. I thought she'd last though - I mean, your relationship lasted for 2 weeks, that's the longest you've ever had. She's definitely your type too but you are _ the  _ Lee Jeno after all." Mark shrugged before turning his back to Jeno and walking to his locker to change clothes.

"She got boring after a week." Jeno drawled, "I asked Sera out yesterday, she's more than willing, although I'm regretting it now. I think I'm losing my interest in girls... they're all too bland, I want some thrill."

Mark's lion ears perked up at this statement - Lee Jeno? The resident CATsanova of Hybrid Arts High school, losing his interest in girls?

Mark turned to Jeno with a shocked expression that made the younger laugh.

"Oh don't you dare laugh at me Lee Jeno! What are you saying? You've never lived without a girlfriend for more than an hour and now you're telling me that you're losing all interest in girls? Are you sick or something?" Mark couldn't believe his ears.

"Nah, I don't know hyung. I'm looking for something new. Something I've never tried before." Jeno declared in such a serious manner that Mark couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Like what? Date a teacher? Date a lesbian? Or maybe date gays?" Mark joked.

Jeno turned to him as if he'd had a sudden realisation, "Maybe dating gays would be fun?"

Mark looked at Jeno as if he'd just grown two heads, "But you're as straight as a stick Lee Jeno!" he exclaimed.

Jeno responded with his infamous eye-smile, "Exactly bro, its something new."

Mark simply shook his head, grinning at his best friend's weird antics and proceeded to arrange his things in his bag. Jeno stood up and walked to his locker, changing into his own clothes, as he contemplated whether to meet his girlfriend or to ditch their date.

He opened his locker door only to find a suspicious small white box with a pink envelope on top of it. Lifting the box to see its contents, Jeno smiled when he saw a heart-shaped chocolate cake - his favorite flavor.

He set the box back down to open the envelope. Cringing inside when he realised that it was a love letter, but continued to open it as  something about this present excited him.

_ '♥ Lee Jeno ♥ _

_ Happy Valentines Day! I know you probably recieved a lot of chocolates, letters and confessions today - but I hope you won't throw this one away. I like you a lot, since freshman year up to now actually! Since we're already seniors... I like you. I like how you smile, how your eyes smile along, I like how perfect your nose is, how your skin seems to glow, I like how your cat ears always perk up at the mention of "sexy girls" and "basketball", I like how your tail curls and waves beautifully when you're flirting with someone, I like how tall you are, I like how your brown locks look so soft, I like how you're so talented at playing basketball - my heart flutters every time I watch you playing. _

_ But of course, I like you not just because of your looks. I like you because of your personality too. Even though you act like such a hoe, you're still kind to everyone and you're so loyal to your friends. I hope you stop dating everyone tho haha... I like you alot Jeno Lee, you better take responsibility! >_< _

_ P.S. you've probably got a date today... I put a lot of effort in that cake so pls eat it <3 you can even share it with your date! :) _

_ P. P. S. I CANT REVEAL MY REAL NAME IM SORRY :< _

 

_ Love, _

_ Nana (my nickname hehe)' _

Jeno was smiling whilst reading the letter. It wasn't as if he'd never received a confession or love letter before. In fact, throughout only this Valentines, he had been given 78 love letters and 4 dozens of chocolates - not that he was counting. Despite all the different and expensive chocolates that he'd received, this was the only home-made and self-made gift that he'd ever been given. The one who had gifted it to him must have exerted their efforts in making the chocolate cake - that made Jeno feel really special.

Lee Jeno was popular because of his looks and his playboy reputation, few things phased him. But reading this letter - it made him feel exultant. The cat-hybrid didn't know the reason why, but he was determined to find out.


	2. An Unlucky Day... Or Not?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gosh darn it Jisung...

"Jeno ditched Sera, serves that bitch right." Laughter exploded through Jaemin's classroom as he arrived. Jaemin usually tuned out his classmates early morning gossiping, but hearing Jeno's name made his ears perk up.    
  
"Yeah right, that dove thinks she's so great because she was Jeno's girlfriend for valentines. But look at her now, what a laughing stock!" the ant hybrids cackled.   
  
Jaemin walked directly to his seat, pretending not to listen to his classmates. Sitting, the pretty peacock took out his phone and headphones from his bag, fidgeting with them to seem busy.

Checking his clock Jaemin realised it was only 7.15am and he still had another 15 minutes to waste. He was always forced to come to school early because his mother was obsessed with timeliness and had been accused by her multiple times of walking 'too slow'.   
  
Usually the teen would arrive at his classroom to find only the ant girls for company, since most of the guys valued sleep far above education. Especially Donghyuck who always arrived (at earliest) 5 minutes before classes for the day had started. He was lucky that Professor Seo was so laid back.

"Does that mean that Jeno didn't have a date yesterday?" one of the ant girls wondered aloud, "Hina saw him walking home alone right after practice."    
  
Jaemin coughed in order to mask the shriek that was emitting from his throat -  _ Jeno didn't have a date yesterday? _

"Yeah but Hina said he was carrying a white box and a pink envelope. He received tons of gifts yesterday but he only seemed to care for that one - it must be really special."

White box. Pink letter. White box. Pink letter.   
  
"Jeno even posted a selca posing with it on instagram last night. The one who gave it is so lucky Jeno noticed her gift." The girls sighed wistfully, unaware of the panic going on inside Jaemin's mind. The brunet immediately unlocked his phone and opened his Instagram app, searching for Jeno's account to find that the cat hybrid really did post  last night.    
  
Once the picture loaded Jaemin's eyes widened because  _ holy cow, _ Jeno was holding Jaemin's chocolate cake and letter with a smug smile as if he'd just been gifted a ferrari.   
  
The caption read: " **This is the first home-made chocolate that I've ever received ^^b Thanks... Nana? ;)** "   
  
Jaemin didn't exactly faint after reading the caption... but that's exactly what happened.

 

~ ♡~

 

"I'll do it for $20 - money down first. " Jisung opened his right palm in front of Jaemin like the swindler he was. 

Jaemin eyed him before taking the required amount from his pocket. The peacock couldn't believe that he was wasting his money on the chick - but Jisung was his only shot. The younger's eyes twinkled at the sight of the paper bills, he tried to grab them from the elder's hand, but Jaemin shoved them back into his pocket whilst smiling sweetly at Jisung.

"Ah hyung! Do you want me to do it or not?" The younger asked with arms crossed.

"We need to set the conditions first! I want you to deliver my cakes to him every Friday: no exceptions and no buts. You are prohibited from opening the letters and  _ cannot  _ tell him anything." Jaemin reminded Jisung with a stern glare before handing over the money.

Jisung grabbed for it and nodded at the older, "Yeah, yeah, whatever - you're such a loser hyung. Why can't you just give them to him yourself?" The chick asked without bothering to look up at his hyung, too busy counting his money.   
  
"He's straight, kid. He won't ever like me back. I'm already happy enough knowing that he likes my chocolate cake." Jaemin wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either.   
  
He was happy that Jeno liked his cake, but he wanted Jeno to like  _ him _ , even though it was impossible - Jaemin still hoped. But he was far too scare to approach the cat, he was positive that the older was 100% heterosexual and that he therefore had 0% chance with him.    
  
Jisung shook his head at the peacock hybrid as he took the cake box from him, "Our basketball practice starts soon so I'll give this to him before we start. I've got to hurry so see ya around hyung!" The blonde checked his watch before running the the direction of the gym.   
  
Jaemin decided to give Jeno cakes weekly ever since he saw the instagram post where Jeno expressed his gratitude for the one Jaemin made him for Valentines.

Since Donghyuck refused to accompany him and was against the idea of Jaemin giving Jeno chocolate cakes again, using the excuse that Jeno would get sick of his cakes by the third when in reality he was afraid that Jeno (and in turn, Mark) might catch them. So Jaemin decided to pay Jisung to give his cakes to Jeno instead. That chick would do anything as long as you had the money to pay him for it - and besides, he was Jeno's closest friend besides Mark.

The peacock knew that Donghyuck would scold him for going through with his plan despite the older's protests. Jaemin wasn't sure himself why he was going to such lengths to give a cake to a casanova that didn't even know him.

Jaemin sighed, loving Lee Jeno sure was tiring.

 

~♡~

 

It had been four weeks since Jaemin started regularly giving Jeno cakes and he'd yet to hear any complaints from the cat hybrid. Jeno even posted a couple of tweets stating "thanks for the cake nana" so Jaemin guessed that the constant cake giving hadn't been a bad idea after all.

Donghyuck never made a comment about it and was happy to see Jaemin get so excited every time Jeno thanked his cake-giver in some way.

The whole school became pretty curious about this "Nana". Some petty girls even approached Jeno, claiming that they had been the one giving the teen the chocolate cakes.

But Jeno only ever accepted cakes from Jisung and the younger made sure to assure him that the real Nana wasn't among those girls.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, until...

"What do you mean you can't go to school today Park?! " Jaemin hissed at Jisung over the phone. Donghyuck and him were eating in the school cafeteria and Jaemin didn't want to risk someone hearing him. The chick had just informed him that he was absent for school that day - meaning that no one would be able to give Jeno his weekly cake.

"I'm sorry hyung,"  the younger's hoarse voice resonated from Jaemin's phone, "I'm sick today and my mum won't let me come to school." A cough could be heard down the line.

Jaemin's heaved a deep sigh, it was useless to get mad a Jisung - he did sound quite sick so Jaemin had not reason to reprimand him.

"Alright... I'll try to figure out something. Get well soon bub." Ending the call the pretty boy heaved another sigh before burying his head between his arms on the table. Donghyuck stopped eating to watch his stressed friend.

"Jisung can't do it today?" Donghyuck asked with a hand under his chin like the diva he was.    
  
Jaemin muffled a whine before stomping his feet and standing up with a look of determination that surprised Donghyuck.    
  
"Where are you going?" the bee asked.   
  
Jaemin began fixing his things, preparing to leave. "I'll do it myself Hyuck." The younger answered. "There's no other way to do this." Giving Donghyuck a timid smile, he bid a short goodbye and began to run in the direction of the school's gym before Donghyuck could even try to stop him.    
  
_ 'Boy, you're so dead.' _ Donghyuck thought before shaking his head and chuckling at his best friend's luck.

 

~♡~

 

The gym was predictably empty because it was lunch time so Jaemin went straight to the locker room only to find it unlocked. But that was to be expected, the basketball team never locked it anyway.    
  
Jaemin decided it was best to leave the chocolate cake in Jeno's locker again, like he had the first time. It worked before, so the peacock hoped that it would work today.    
  
Jaemin creeped quietly inside, searching for Jeno's locker. Although he was pretty sure that no one else was there, he couldn't help but be nervous.   
  
He brightened at the sight of Jeno's locker, standing in front of it he swiftly put in the pass code. However confusion could be found on his features when the locker door didn't snapped open.    
  
Had Jeno changed his passcode?   
  
Before Jaemin could work out what was going on, Jeno's locker buzzed noisily.   
  
"Who's there? Mark hyung are you back yet?" Jaemin froze at the voice. It was Jeno's.    
  
Having heard the lock buzz from the shower, Jeno had assumed that it was their team captain and so hurriedly washed himself in fear of being late for class. Exiting the shower with only a towel round his waist the basketball team's ace headed for his locker.   
  
Terrified, the peacock  frantically searched for somewhere to hide - finding an open locker just two doors away from Jeno's. Running  over Jaemin dumped his backpack inside before entering. The teen was stick thin so he could slide in easily but he was also tall the locker didn't give any justice to his height. Sitting in the tight space he hugged his knees to his chest to fit into the confined space as he had no other choice. Jaemin would much prefer to suffer through the stench of the dirty jerseys of the owner of the locker than get caught by his crush. 

Jaemin watched through the crack of the door as Jeno's figure came to sight almost suffering a heart attack when he saw what the older was wearing.   
  
Lee Jeno was half naked in front of the peacock's very eyes and Jaemin felt as if he was burning. The bird was sure that he must have been blushing like crazy as he felt his heartbeat accelerate.   
  
"Mark hyung? Wa- oh he's not here? But I'm sure I heard someone..." Frowning, Jeno shrugged before taking out some clothes from his locker.   
  
Having gotten everything he needed, Jeno turned to close his locker when he caught sight of  an odd pink and purple feather sticking out of Sanha's locker. Last time he checked, Sanha was a squirrel hybrid - and squirrels didn't have pink and purple feathers.    
  
Jaemin heard Jeno chuckle and his eyes widened in fear as Jeno walked in the direction of the locker he was hiding in.   
  
Jaemin seriously wanted to scream,  _ 'did he see me? Does he know? Have I been caught?' _ Panicking, Jaemin closed his eyes and prayed in silence to God to spare him this one time.   
  
Having heard a thud resonate through the door, the teen jumped in his skin, bumping his head as the locker door opened.   
  
"Ouch," he muttered with eyes closed - unconsciously caressing the bump, with a pout gracing his lips.

Jeno was shocked when he opened Sanha's locker to find a pretty boy curled up inside, with pink, purple and light blue feathers spread all around him. Jeno couldn't control his laugh when the boy bumped his head and pouted. Cute.    
  
"What are you doing there hun? That's not an ideal place to hang out." Jeno joked with his signature smirk.    
  
Jaemin cracked an eye open and wasn't sure if he'd died or not because he was sure he was in heaven. Jeno's toned body was exposed before him, with an eye-smile on his face and his hair glistening wet from shower. Jaemin was sure he was in heaven.    
  
"You can come out here you know, I'm pretty sure it'll be more comfortable out here than there." Jeno held out his hand for the younger to take, Jaemin hesitated at first, but decided to take it. After all, having the chance to hold your crush' hands was a once in a lifetime opportunity.    
  
His tail spread beautifully as soon as he got up. With the way his heart was beating for Jeno, the peacock was sure that it would take him awhile to calm himself enough to be able to close his own tail. Feeling shy, Jaemin tried to fix his hair and uniform.   
  
"Oh so you're the peacock! Cool. What were you doing inside Sanha's locker?" Jeno asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.    
  
Jaemin avoided the older's gaze and focused on Jeno's tail instead. - he didn't know how to answer. He contemplated whether admitting everything to Jeno would be a good idea or whether it would be best to just make up some cover story instead.    
  
He glanced at Jeno's face and noticed the older was smiling at him, feeling even more shy Jaemin looked at the ground.

_ 'It's now or never.' _ the peacock thought,  _ 'This is it, Na Jaemin.' _

He unzipped his backpack and took a deep breath before taking out a white box.

Jeno's eyes widened at the sight of the familiar box -  _ 'was this for real?' _

Jaemin faced Jeno, determination painted on his pretty face. His tail was spread proudly, and for a moment Jeno's breath hitched because damn- the hybrid before his eyes was beautiful.

"Hello Jeno, I'm Na Jaemin, also known as Nana by some of my friends." Jaemin rambled nervously, "I've been giving you chocolate cakes since Valentines through Jisung. But he's sick today so I came to drop this by...

... And I really really like you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you like this chapter! We appreciate any and all feedback <3  
> Follow Ros on [twitter](https://twitter.com/xiuchenfinity) and Kiera on [twitter](https://twitter.com/wintaewin) and [tumblr](http://nct-gay.tumblr.com/) ♥


	3. Post-Rejection Blues

Jeno stared blankly at Jaemin after the latter's confession making Jaemin anxious. Suddenly all the confidence he'd built washed away with the tide as his nervousness left him out to dry. Unable to meet Jeno's eyes he looked down at the floor and counted the tiles with vigour as if he'd been paid to.   
  
Many thoughts ran through the peacock's mind - his inner demons mocking him and his deflated courage. _'Oh my God Na Jaemin what have you done?'_ they questioned, _'you shouldn't have bought him cake it's not even Friday! What were you thinking? He'll never like you... how could you confess to him so shamelessly? He's going to laugh in your face.'_

Jaemin trembled under Jeno's gaze as the elder took a step towards him.  
  
"Nana..." the cat hybrid called, causing an embarrassing squeak to escape from Jaemin's throat, his cheeks burning. Lacking in confidence, Jaemin was sure that Jeno would reject him, so he picked up the little pride he had left, he stuttered out and excuse to the other.   
  
"Uhmm yeah so umm I--uh Ive g-got some p-paperwork to uhmm d-do. Gotta go... bye!" Jaemin sprinted out of the locker room before Jeno could register what was happening, leaving the cat's sight before he had time to think.

The older almost hit himself for not acting fast enough. Jeno sighed when he realised that cornering Jaemin would be no easy task - especially since the experienced Casanova knew that the shy hybrid would go all out to avoid him.  
  
"Congratulations, Lee Jeno" he mumbled aloud, "you've just given yourself extra work."

 

~♡~

 

"Oh my gosh Donghyuck... I can never show my face around him. EVER! AGAIN! I'm so stupid - how could I confess to him and expect him to feel the same way and sweep me off my feet like a goddamn fairy tale and kiss me right on spot?" Jaemin cried   
  
Jaemin's desperate whines echoed through the empty office of the school publication where he and Donghyuck were junior writers. Nobody stayed in the office after school hours since school had only just started so there weren't many activities to cover in the paper yet.  
  
Jaemin and Donghyuck were usually assigned to the sports column - the soccer team specifically. Their seniors wouldn't give them the Basketball team, since they were heavily sought after. Many of the seniors also lusted over the basketball team, which annoyed the two hybrids to no end.  
  
Jaemin felt incredibly close to jumping off a cliff - especially since Donghyuck was no help at all when it came to dealing with his frustrating love life. Although that was mainly because the great Lee Donghyuck also was battling with his own inner turmoils with his own "oh so adorable crush".   
  
"Hah. You're so delusional" Donghyuck responded to Jaemin's complaints with a tone of cynicism.  
  
"You beestard, why are you even friend?" Jaemin grumbled with a pout.  
  
Donghyuck snorted at the lame pun- having had enough of his friend’s ugly whines, the bee hybrid finally looked up from the fanfiction he'd been reading with a tired gaze.   
  
"You know what Jaem," he said, "Jeno is popular - he probably receives tons of confessions everyday. So yours won't be that special so stop overthinking things. It’s not like Jeno will tell the whole school that you're that Nana who sends him cakes and you confessed your stupid crush but that he's not into your ugly self. Right?"  
  
Jaemin glared at Donghyuck but knew that his best friend was making a logical point, agreed "I guess."

Suddenly the door to the office slammed shut.

 

~♡~

  
Jaemin arrived at school a bit later than he usually did -  still not over what happened the day before. He'd spent the previous night twisting and turning in his bed - unable to get even a taste of sleep. With a pale complexion and eye-bags matching his feathers, the peacock wasn't far off of looking like a zombie from 'The Walking Dead' - who had then chosen to quit the show and come to school to learn how to solve for value of x using the Pythagorean theorem.   
  
But his messy appearance wasn't what made Jaemin uncomfortable - it was the large amount of students eyeing his petite figure with gossip on their lips.   
  
The students weren't even trying to be subtle - not bothering to lower their voices as Jaemin passed them.   
  
"What?! _The_ Nana is Na Jaemin? That peacock hybrid? Gross." Jaemin gritted his teeth, gulping down the insults he thought that were directed at the tadpole.

"Yes! Someone heard him and his best friend talking. Everyone in school knows about it already! And guess what - he confessed to Jeno yesterday but got rejected - what a loser." As the cockroaches cackled,  Jaemin rolled his eyes and was glad he wasn't closely related to such horrible hybrids.  
  
"Oh my God! I gotta tweet about this!" One of the pigeons announced, ironically serving its purpose as a bird.   
  
Jaemin wasn't shocked that everyone had already found out - he'd already figured that someone was eavesdropping on his conversation with Donghyuck yesterday, especially when one of the office doors mysteriously slammed shut.  It was probably a senior or fellow junior who had come back to get their things.   
  
It made sense considering the overwhelming popularity of Mr. Casanova - any news about him would get everyone hyped. Jaemin was sure he would be the laughing stock of the whole school - being teased was nothing new to him, he'd be able to deal with it.   
  
But Jaemin knew he'd struggle because this time the teasing would remind him of his broken heart over the one and only Lee Jeno.

Jeno hadn't rejected him directly -but he didn’t sweep Jaemin off his feet like in a fairytale and kiss him until they ran out of breath - instead his silence was enough of a rejection.  
  
Sighing, Jaemin dragged himself to his locker only to find the cause of his headache (heartache) standing right next to it, as if he was waiting for someone. Jaemin wouldn’t assume that Jeno was waiting for him though. After what happened yesterday? Not ever.   
  
He wanted to avoid the older as much as possible, but all his books were inside his locker and it was almost time for class. He could try and go without them - but he would risk detention and Jaemin really didn't want to spend any more time in school than he had to.   
  
Plus, why was he so scared of facing Jeno? The younger needed to show him that he wasn’t affected at all by what had happened. That the rejection didn’t even hurt him one little bit - that he, Na Jaemin, was fine and well.   
  
  
The peacock inhaled deeply before walking to his locker with his new gained confidence. He almost halted in his tracks when the older finally noticed him but forced himself to carry on when Jeno didn’t make an effort to approach him.   
  
There weren't many students lurking in the hallways, most of them already inside their classrooms, waiting for the bell to ring. Because of this, the hallway was unnervingly quiet.   
  
When Jaemin reached his locker door, he never  had as much desire to run away as much as he did at that moment. Jeno was two feet away from him, staring at him intently with an unreadable expression. Jaemin hoped that the taller wouldn't speak - otherwise  the peacock was sure he'd faint.   
  
He tried to ignore Jeno’s presence and proceeded to take out his books.   
  
“Na Jaemin.” the teen next to him called.   
  
Jaemin didn’t faint but his tail spread wide open.   
  
_'Damn Lee Jeno and his effect on me,'_ Jaemin thought, _'damn my tail for betraying me. Damn fate for letting me meet this cat hybrid with a godly feature. Dam—'_   
  
“Jaemin-ah.” the nervous bird was broken out of his trance by Jeno's soft voice, making Jaemin almost drop to the floor.   
  
Caving into himself,  Jaemin closed his tail before facing the older fully.

Jeno noticed the effort of the younger put into acting normally in front of him and thought that it was cute of him, causing him to let out a little chuckle.  
  
“Yes?” Jaemin responded with an enthusiasm that he hadn't intended, making him pout in annoyance.   
  
“So about yesterday...”   
  
Jaemin was quick to stop the older from mentioning anything about the day before, refusing to recall his own pathetic confession.   
  
“Ahh no! Really, it's fine. No need to worry about it. I'm… all good.” Jaemin tried his best to give the cat hybrid his brightest smile, thinking he could mask all the self-pity he felt.   
  
The two almost jumped out of their skins as the school bell rang loudly,  signalling the start of class.   
  
“Oh I gotta go now Jeno, you should too. Bye!" Jaemin declared before swinging his backpack on his shoulder and walking in the general direction of his classroom - only to be stopped by a gentle tug on his left arm.   
  
He faced Jeno with a confused face, unsure of what the elder wanted but also agitated about being late to class.   
  
“Do you wanna come to East Hybrid Academy’s school fest with me tomorrow?” Jeno mumbled, staring down at his shoes.   
  
A thousand thoughts whizzed through Jaemin's mind - 'WHAT. THE. FUCK.' he thought, 'Did Lee Jeno really just ask him, pitiful Jaemin, to come with him to NHA’s school fest?' Jaemin didn't understand.

First of all, North Hybrid Academy was the rival of their school. Their school festival was open for everyone, even for those who weren’t their students as long as a student from NHA invited you to go. But Lee Jeno was the freaking star player of their basketball team! And the last time Jaemin checked, their basketball team had been beating NHA’s at the finals for 3 consecutive years now. They were probably more than willing to rip Jeno’s head off than invite him to their festival.   
  
Second, why would Jeno want to bring him to NHA's school festival? Based on Jaemin’s knowledge, the school festival was usually composed of booths, amusement rides, food stalls and a mini concert at the last night of the said festival, which was tomorrow.   
  
So if Jeno and Jaemin were to go together, it would definitely look like they were on a date. A date.   
  
Jeno had only just rejected him yesterday, why would he want to take Jaemin on a date when he could have anyone he wanted. It was never hard for the Catsonava to ask anyone out anyways, he had that nickname for a reason. Literally anyone would happily go with him on a date - so why did he ask Jaemin of all people?

  
Jaemin was internally self destructing as he was unable to comprehend why Jeno would want his company to go the NHA's school festival. So caught up in his own thoughts, Jaemin forgot that he had yet to respond to the cat hybrid.   
  
The older noticed Jaemin's panic, unsure whether Jaemin was considering rejecting him, Jeno resorted to his best tactic, “ah... you seem to dislike the idea of going with me Jaemin-ah." he muttered, slumping his shoulder and giving the younger the dejected puppy - or kitten - look, "It's fine… I guess I'm not really fun to be with.”   
  
Jaemin’s heartbeat quickened at the sight of his crush giving him puppy (kitten) eyes . It wasn't fair! How Jeno could make his emotions go all over the place so fast? Jaemin wanted to cry - there was no way he could say no to Jeno.   
  
After all, going with Jeno would be advantageous for Jaemin too, it could save his pride and he'd be able to shove it in all his schoolmates' faces that even though he'd been rejected, at least he  got the chance to be with Jeno for a whole day.   
  
After all, who in their right mind would reject an opportunity to spend time with their ultimate crush?   
  
Jaemin let out sigh before genuinely smiling at the older, “fine.”   
  
Jaemin was late for his first period, but Mr. Kang let him off when he noticed the pure happiness and excitement radiating from the peacock-hybrid's petite body.   
  
It was a good day for Jaemin.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, I (beta) have been a bit busy over the past few weeks so it took a lil while to find time ^^;

**Author's Note:**

> Also cross-posted to [aff](http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1232847/take-a-bite-of-my-heart-fluff-slightangst-hybridau-markhyuck-jaeno-nomin)
> 
> Written by Ros and beta'd by Kiera, tell us what you think! ♥


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